We’ve been getting so many great submissions to our Instagram project this month. In case you missed it, it’s called “Portraits and Songs” and the instructions are simple: Share a portrait you took of someone, pair it with a song title/artist, and tag it #portraitsandsongs. I will be re-gramming submissions to @booooooom all month long!

If you plan to attend please RSVP the Eventbrite HERE. We may get really busy so there may be a line at some point during the night. If you’re on the list you’ll have an easier time getting in.

I also want to officially announce the winners of the very special Booooooom x Herschel Supply bags. Congratulations to the three on the flyer above: Lucy Drury, Maria Nguyen, and Mallory Lucille Rose. I know I said there’d be three winners but I actually picked a fourth winner, Rachel Hines. Her submission below is maybe my favourite of the entire project. There were many beautifully rendered portraits of people, places, and things but I was struck by the small moment that Rachel described. This is what a drawing made of honest lines looks like:

Thank you to everyone who submitted a drawing and shared a story. It’s going to be a really amazing show, we’re displaying all the drawings on custom made clipboards. I hope to see lots of you there! Following the show I will post an online gallery of all the digital submissions we received so stay tuned for that as well.

The submission period for our “Drawing On The Past” project is now closed! I am rounding up all the digital submissions (there’s tons), and will post a gallery of every single one. I am also going through the work that was mailed to me for the Vancouver show, and will make an announcement about that soon. Thanks to everyone who submitted to this project, it is incredible to look at it all. I can’t wait to show you.

“In the past, I didn’t always have many friends. At times, I felt the world was too much for a little girl like me. Despite that, I always had my books. They invited me in when I wanted a place to stay, and provided distraction and inspiration when I needed it most. People and places change, but those pages stay the same. I hope my book collection never stops growing.”

Interview with Katie So

Jeff Hamada: Let’s start off by time-traveling back to high school (maybe this is a bad idea, I don’t know how you felt about high school). You get to re-write the blurb next to your graduation photo in the yearbook, go!

Katie So: That is such a tough one! I tracked down my yearbook and at the time I wrote: “I’d like to thank all the people who think they should be thanked and all those people who actually deserve it. Thank you.” So I guess I’ve always been terrible and bitter! Today, I’d probably write something like “I hope we all dress better 10 years from now.” Or some other grumpy, disgruntled comment like, “Your best friend will leave you for another man”, which is actually a true story that I’ve been turning into a comic for the past 2 years.

JH: My friend Cam’s nickname in high school was Snake, on the last day of school he wrote a message in my grade 12 yearbook that pretty much just said: “One day you will be playing with your son and you’ll suddenly feel a bite on your leg and see something slithering back into the bushes – Snake”. I think you two would have gotten along. Would you have any reservations about making that comic if it was obviously about your friend?

KS: Well, the comic is pretty dark. It’s about a girl who meets a friend while she’s venturing through these dark woods. It’s heavily symbolic, maybe too much so. The way things were left with my “best friend” and I, I don’t think she’d even notice if I released a book about us. It’s a very strange and sad story that I think contributes to a lot of what I struggle with today. It’s a slow process to get a long winded emotional relationship on paper, but I think it’s something people might like to see. It won’t have any words either, purely visual, which is a whole new challenge I’ve got to tackle. And if she does end up seeing it one day, the worst that could happen is she’ll only end up knowing how she made me feel.

JH: If high-school-you made me a mix tape what would be on it?

KS: Side A would be all the Motown you can think of, Side B would be Zeppelin, obviously.

JH: What was the first comic that made you wanna make your own?

KS: That’s hard to pinpoint. When I was little, my mom showed me Asterix & Obelix and my dad introduced me to these Chinese comics called Old Master Q. I read all of those over and over, and Calvin and Hobbes was always a constant so I think the desire to add words to drawings probably stemmed from those books. In school, I usually found an excuse to do a comic for projects. I made one about kamikaze pilots that was pretty dark, now that I think about it.

JH: For whatever reason our library had Asterix comics but they were always in French (Tin Tin too), so I used to just look at the pictures.

KS: Yeah, I “read” a lot of the French ones too. I had a bunch of Dragon Ball comics too, that were only in Chinese but the drawings were so great, you didn’t need to know what was being said. Making up your own story is part of the fun anyway. Growing up, I had a lot of my mom’s old Swiss children’s books. Some of them I could read, and some of them I had separate story lines that I just made up for them. Maybe that’s why I like the idea of a story without words. Leave it up to the reader sometimes.

JH: I know the “poor me” mentality in your comics is only semi-autobiographical but is it easier to share really personal things under the guise of self-loathing?

KS: I guess making fun of yourself is kind of a sick way to deal with your problems, but I know it’s something a lot of comedians and artists do. It’s a way to remove yourself from it so that you can point and laugh at yourself instead of seriously dealing with something painful.

JH: Is it a weird feeling when lots of people re-blog (and obviously really identify with) a fairly depressing observation about life?

KS: Yeah, it took my a while to realize that people were actually reading what I was putting out there. It’s interesting to see the response sometimes. I guess it goes with any art form; the reaction to a piece may not be what you intended which can be a good or a bad thing. I made the comics to make fun of myself, and to poke fun at the emotional trouble I have sometimes. The response I got was that people everywhere were feeling the same things, which surprised me. It’s pretty easy to feel isolated in the world today. That’s why I’ve been trying to do more positive comics. I didn’t like how a lot of my followers were in a state of wallowing with me, when what I was trying to do in the first place was say, “Hey! Wallowing is pathetic! You can indulge in feeling terrible for a bit, but now get up and point and laugh at how silly you looked when you were sad.” which of course is easier said than done.

JH: There is almost a Steven Wright quality to some of your writing; it’s so good. Are there any comedians that you’re inspired by?

KS: I think I was born with deadpan diction. I guess a lot of my writing has kind of a one-liner thing going on, but my favourite comedians are all really good story tellers, like Dave Chappelle, Louis CK and David Cross. They’re able to take you through this intricate story and make you forget where you started, only to bring it back to a punchline that comes out of nowhere. I’d like to experiment with long form jokes like that. I do have a secret notebook with stand up jokes written in them. Maybe I can turn them into comics one day.

JH: I demand to hear one of these stand-up jokes!

KS: Well, I wrote this long winded one about Netflix and how after a few consecutive episodes of a tv show, it will ask you, “Are you still watching?”. I talk about how the “continue” button just serves as a reminder of how pathetic you are, and clicking it just confirms how depressing your life really is. You’re giving up. You’re offered the chance to rethink your life and make the right choice, and nobody ever does. I can get annoyed at it judging me like that, but now I know, if no one else, at least Netflix is checking if I’m still alright. I mean, I could have choked to death from eating while lying down, between Futurama episodes, and they’d keep playing unless Netflix asked, “Hey, are you ok?”

KS: The next level would be to connect a police scanner for paramedics that’s linked to people’s Netflix accounts, I’m sure that would save many lives or at least save people from finishing LOST. So, when I tuck myself in at night, all sad and alone, at least Netflix will check to see if I’m still breathing. This joke has almost certainly been done already, I’m sure of it.

JH: I’ve tried to eat soup lying down several times, like I mean, with my face actually sideways. It’s really tricky. What’s something that most people don’t know about you?

KS: This might destroy my persona, but I haven’t had that many real boyfriends. Also, my longest standing crush is Jay Baruchel, thanks to Popular Mechanics for Kids.

JH: This is very revealing information. Maybe we can end this with a really deep quote to enlighten everyone who reads this far?

KS: Ok. There’s something very powerful in witnessing or taking part in a special event, and not taking a picture of it.

“50 years ago my dad along with his four brothers and my grandfather began fixing up a run down farm in Vermont. By the time I was alive, the vermin had long moved out and what was left was a magical home filled with old treasures. I grew up there alongside 15 cousins and six dogs, building forts and jumps all day. Just getting outside, exploring the woods and fishing and stuff. It ruled. It was also there, at Foxford Farm, that I first felt compelled to start documenting things with video and photo because we were doing things that I thought were so fun and so cool that I wanted to be able to re-visit it always and remember.”

Interview with Ian Durkin

Jeff Hamada: I’m writing to you from my Vancouver apartment, I’m listening to “What’s The Altitude” by Cut Chemist. Can you describe where you are right now?

Ian Durkin: It’s 10:53 PM and my window fan is my prized possession on this hot Brooklyn night. I received the Lewis “L’amour” album in the mail today, which I’m listening to in my apartment. I’ve been trying to track down a copy for years now and to my delight, a re-release arrived unscathed at my doorstep by way of Washington.

JH: What kinda last name is Durkin anyway?

ID: It’s the kind of last name that without fail becomes one’s only name. Perhaps it rolls off the tongue easier than “Ian”, but every time I meet someone, it seems that my first name gets dropped fast. I believe that it’s an Irish name.

JH: The same thing happens to me with my last name actually! What’s your favourite thing about living in New York?

ID: I’ve made some great friends in New York, which is my favorite part. There’s also always something interesting to do, which is amazing, but also tricky when you’re trying to buckle down and get work done.

JH: Is working at Vimeo as cool as it is in my mind? In my mind, it is the best.

ID: It’s pretty great. I’ve been there for over three years now and I’ve yet to be bummed to head into work in the morning. You need to come visit sometime and I’ll show you around!

JH: I’d love that! How often are you even at home? You strike me as someone always heading out on some wild adventure; how long till you move to a cabin in the wilderness?

ID: I’m at home a fair amount. I do like to get out and go on trips, but hanging in New York is super fun as well. I don’t think I’ll be living here forever though, so that cabin in the wilderness, or just a smaller town is always on my mind if there is a means to get there and a way to make it sustainable.

JH: I haven’t really skated at all since I annihilated my ankle on a rail (full disclosure: the smallest rail in the entire universe) many years ago. I still snowboard and stuff but there’s something about even watching skateboarding that makes me want to make things. There’s like a primal energy to it; I love watching skate videos while I work or draw. Can you talk a little bit about what skateboarding means to you.

ID: I’ve annihilated my ankle on smalls rails too. Really classic move. Skateboarding to me is just a fun thing to do with friends before and after work. It’s also an excellent vehicle to take you to odd parts of the city that most wouldn’t find cool and to meet new people.

JH: This is a triple question: What’s your favourite film, your favourite skate video, and a bad movie that everyone makes fun of you for loving?

ID: I have a lot of favorites. “Beginners” just popped into my mind. I liked that one a bunch. I really loved the “No complies, Wallrides and Shuvits” Polar web video that Pontus Alv made a few years ago. I return to that often. And I grew up watching a lot of Disney Channel original movies. So if we were flipping through the channels and “Motocrossed”, “Jonny Tsunami” or “Brink” were playing, I’d be pretty jazzed.

JH: I love “Beginners”, it’s the only movie I’ve ever watched twice back to back on an airplane (maybe partially because I’m in love with Melanie Laurent). I also posted that Polar video on Booooooom, it’s so good! Okay, what song do you want played at your funeral?

ID: Anything with a live horn band. Horns are so joyous, and I think it would be a nice touch for the occasion. I suppose I should befriend some horn players to make sure this happens.

JH: I like to end interviews by asking what’s something you wanna do by the end of the year, and what’s something you wanna do by the end of your life?

ID: By the end of the year, I hope to put out at least a couple more short videos that I’m proud of as well as take a lot more photographs. By the end of my life, I hope to own land and a house. The idea of having a home to work on and grow a family in is really appealing to me.

She writes: “The two people in the drawing are Kristin and Melle. These two friends of mine are the most crazy, creative and intelligent people I know. The place in the drawing is an old abandoned building at the campus of Universiteit van Twente. We broke into it and wandered around during evening. I love how adventurous my friends are. They add something nice to my life and make it so much better.

Unfortunately Kristin got back to America two weeks ago. She was an exchange student here at the art academy I also attend. I will visit her one day and have some adventures in America.”

I’ve been hooking up people with Herschel Supply goods (backpacks, duffels, etc) just for joining in on the fun. 3 lucky people will also receive our very special Booooooom and Herschel Supply bag. If you wanna join the project you have one week left to get your submission in! Read the instructions are below!

My friends at Herschel Supply and I launched an art project last month called “Drawing On The Past”. We want you to draw a person, place, or thing, that’s had a positive impact on your life. It’s open to anyone to join, so do it! As a little extra incentive we’ll be giving away Herschel products to some random lucky people just for submitting to the project! Get the full instructions HERE.

This drawing above is a submission to our project by photographer Laura Austin. Remember, I’m more interested in the story than your drawing abilities.

She wrote: “Travel has helped mold me into who I am today and will continue to shape who I am in the future. From strengthening my father-daughter bond when I was a little girl, to incluencing my career decisions now, and continuing to make me a more open-minded human being… the idea of travel and the experiences I have taken away from those adventures have had a huge impact on my life.”

Interview with Laura Austin

Jeff Hamada: Where was the last place you travelled to, where are you now, and where are you headed next?

Laura Austin: The last place I travelled to by car, Palm Springs for the 4th of July, a typical getaway for us Los Angeles folk. By plane, the little island of Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts to visit family a few weeks ago. I am currently back at my place in Los Angeles for the moment. Next I will be going on a mini road trip through some California mountains for a photo shoot I am doing. I don’t have any big trips planned at the moment.

JH: Do you find it hard to be home? I feel like you’d be always antsy to leave.

LA: After growing up in small mountain towns my whole life and now currently living in Los Angeles, I do crave for open spaces and outside-city adventure often. I wouldn’t say I’m too antsy to leave because I have crafted my life into having the satisfaction of knowing I can leave when I want. I’m traveling on a pretty regular basis, however I value my time at home to reconnect, re-energize, and reorganize.

JH: What is it about photography that you love so much?

LA: There is so much about photography that I find gratification in. My career background was in graphic design, then journalism, and now photography has become a perfect marriage of my appreciation of aesthetics I took away from design, and the story telling I loved about journalism. But most of all photography has become a vehicle to travel to and really appreciate so many places, as well as meet so many amazing new people.

JH: Describe the best photo you ever took.

LA: I can’t say I have a favorite image yet, and hopefully never will; that way I will always remain hungry.

JH: When was the last time you saw a great photo op but put your camera down and experienced the moment without looking through the viewfinder?

LA: Over time I have learned to do this more often. When I started out I always had a camera glued to my face, which was probably necessary at the time. The last time I avoided going for the camera was cruising around Nantucket in a boat during sunset while everything turned orange and rays of light were bursting through the low-lying clouds. I opted to avoid the camera and just lay back and watch. Some moments are better enjoyed that way.

JH: Who is inspiring you these days?

LA: My parents for creating lives for themselves out of their passions. Amanda Jasnowski for color. Jeremy & Claire Weiss for work ethic and doing it as a married couple. My boyfriend Jared Eberhardt for confidence. All the young, talented, and hungry for lighting a fire under my ass. This list could go on forever.

JH: You’re young and you’ve been able to take things you love to do and turn them into a job; do you feel like you’re already living your dream? What’s missing?

LA: Yes and no. I am living the dream I had for myself years ago, but my aspirations are continuously changing. That’s what keeps me going, the satisfaction of reaching your goals, but always wanting to do more. At the moment I’m working on finding a large space in downtown LA to use as a live/work space which will hopefully inspire more creativity, that’s what’s missing short-term at the moment.

JH: If you had to give up either traveling, snowboarding, or photography which would it be?

LA: My answer to this will probably bum some of my peers out. I’ve had some of the most amazing times of my life snowboarding, but it is the one I would give up since I’ve already dedicated a large chuck of my life to it. I know there is so much more I have to experience through travel and photography and I wouldn’t want to cut myself short there.

JH: What’s the best piece of advice someone else has given you?

LA: Happiness matters most.

JH: I’ve been finishing interviews by asking what’s something you want do by the end of the year, and what’s something you want do by the end of your life?

LA: End of year – create and live in my own creative space. End of life – have no regrets.

My friends at Herschel Supply and I launched an art project a few weeks ago called “Drawing On The Past”. We want you to draw a person, place, or thing, that’s had a positive impact on your life. It’s open to anyone to join, so do it! As a little extra incentive we’ll be giving away Herschel products to some random lucky people just for submitting to the project! Get the full instructions HERE.

This drawing above is a submission to our project by Vancouver-based artist, Mandy Tsung. If you’re in town she will be painting at SNAG tonight.

She wrote: “Russell Alton changed my life. He moved to be with me in Vancouver shortly after we became a couple 5 years ago and, since then, I’ve become a better person. Because of him, I’m more socially conscious and politically minded, more outspoken about my beliefs, more confident in myself. Our life together seems nearly effortless as we both follow our dreams of making a life out of our art. He reminds me to be less serious and helps me to enjoy every day.”

Interview with Mandy Tsung

Jeff Hamada: I read that you were born in Banff and then grew up in Calgary, does Vancouver feel like home now?

MandyTsung: Vancouver has been more of a home than anywhere else in that I feel like I fit in here. The people here and the community of artists have been very welcoming. Having spent the majority of my life in Calgary, I was always dreaming about escaping, for a variety of reasons. Whereas Vancouver is always a pleasure to come back to.

JH: What’s your favourite part about living in Vancouver?

MS: I love Vancouver because it’s so lush and green all year round. I can go out and enjoy nature whenever I want. Living here has enabled me to live more frugally because simple pleasures are everywhere.

JH: That’s my favourite part too; I think I’ll always need to live in a city where I can get outside and into nature really easily. Do you have any pets?

MS: I don’t own any pets myself, but I foster cats. It’s really wonderful to watch an animal gain trust in you and to help it socialize so that it can be a good pet to someone else. I definitely get attached to every cat but I think it’s important to learn how to let them go. It helps me to appreciate the time I have with them and not take them for granted.

JH: If you could go back in time, to when you were just fresh out of school, and give advice to yourself what would it be?

MS: I guess I would tell myself to enjoy a few years of unadulterated freedom and not worry too much about getting into a career. I spent a lot of time after school trying to find a “thing” that would make me money – fashion design, wearable crafts, kaleidoscopes, etc. My family are all entrepreneurs so that mindset came naturally. In the end, it was when I wasn’t thinking about how to monetize my skills that I found my calling. I was recovering from knee surgery and began doing big figurative drawings. I was so enthralled with them that I couldn’t stop, and that was when I knew I’d found it.

JH: What people or things are inspiring you these days? Can you talk a little bit about one or two specific things, and how they’re directly or indirectly influencing your work?

MS: I’ve been feeling the need to grow lately, so I went to some demos at Opus by Cori Creed and Justin Ogilvie. Getting to watch them working was incredibly beneficial, more so than just reading about techniques and looking at art online. Things really clicked right after I watched them.

JH: When I was younger I never used to draw real things because I didn’t like it when people told me that wasn’t how they were supposed to look. Do you ever feel any extra pressure when you’re painting a portrait of a real person as opposed to a mythical creature?

MS: I think I use realism as a safety net. I have a hard time being objective about my work, so if it at least looks realistic I can hold into that, otherwise I don’t know what is good or bad. As I’ve begun to move away from realism by using unusual colours and animals, it has been very freeing and I spend much less time worrying about getting things to look “perfect”.

JH: Do you make sculptures anymore?

MS: I do sculpt now and then. It’s not traditional sculpture, but I’ve been working on a ball-jointed doll for a long time and a lot of ideas that I have revolve around it. I’ve had ideas to incorporate sculpture into my paintings as well but my home studio doesn’t allow for power tools or anything too big. It’s hard to find time when painting is paying the bills and the limited income means I can’t be frivolous with materials.

JH: Has making a living off of the thing you love taken any of the fun out of it? How do you keep a balance?

MS: I would be making art regardless of whether it made me any money, and a big part of creating, for me, is showing other people – it’s how I communicate. I keep it from feeling like a job by always giving myself room to experiment and learn. It’s vital that my work doesn’t become an enactment of a routine. As soon as I feel like my paintings are becoming mechanical; like I am simply a robot, I switch things up. Sometimes I worry that my work looks inconsistent or unfocused because of this, but I’d rather feel passionate about what I’m doing every day.

JH: I can really identify with that. It’s a lot harder to develop a recognizable style if you keep changing things up, but it’s easy to get bored doing the same thing over and over. I think a person can slowly trap themselves in a style and one day realize it’s not actually fun anymore. I usually end interviews by asking what’s something you wanna do by the end of the year, and what’s something you wanna do by the end of your life?

MS: By the end of the year I would like to have a show/work schedule nailed down so I can move to Berlin in the next few years! By the end of my life I’d like be able to say that I made a real difference in the world, however that may come about. Perhaps that I’ve influenced public policy on the environment, or gender equality, or racial politics. Something like that.